Electricity bill dilemma: The complex reality of Beddawi Camp's power consumption

Thousands of housing units in Beddawi Camp, home to Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese residents, have not been paying electricity bills for a considerable period.

However, a closer look reveals a more complex reality. While some residents benefit from free electricity, others dutifully pay their bills to Lebanon's Electricité du Liban (EDL).

Walking through the camp's streets, one encounters both beneficiaries and paying customers. Residents who benefit from the free electricity have no electricity meters installed in their homes or shops.

Why do thousands of units lack meters and benefit from state-provided electricity without payment?

The units with meters and regular bill payments are the older houses in the camp, which fall under planned urbanization.

On the other hand, the thousands of additional units without meters are newly developed structures resulting from unplanned, unregulated expansion built on top of the older houses.

Practically, a significant portion of the camp relies on tapping into a limited electricity supply provided by EDL without payment.

Earlier, EDL had proposed to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) that a private company coordinating with factions should handle the collection process. UNRWA requested four weeks to respond to the proposal.

Similar phenomena of non-payment persist in larger Palestinian refugee camps, Syrian displaced camps, and several Lebanese neighborhoods. This situation indicates various factors contributing to the dire state of the electricity sector in Lebanon.